It Was Fated Before We Met
by Hypnotoad76
Summary: Before going back to college, Jeff has a memorable encounter with a fortune teller. A Jeff/Annie story, even if Annie is mostly absent.


Jeff groaned as he sipped his beer. Normally he wouldn't expect a carnival to serve beer. But this being Greendale, stranger things had happened. He should know, he'd represented a number of clients who'd committed some very odd crimes.

He needed some alcohol in his system right now. Reality was too tough to take stone cold sober. Earlier this year he'd had it all. A great job, well on his way to being made partner at his law firm, a bevy of gorgeous women for nights of sweaty passion. And now because of one little lie about his undergraduate degree, he'd lost it all.

In retrospect it could have been worse. At least he hadn't been disbarred. And technically he still had his job. He just had to go to community college and get his degree for real before he could practice again. But it was still humiliating. He'd be a thirty year old sitting in class learning stuff that was irrelevant to what he wanted to do. He hated it the first time around, and he knew it was going to be ten times worse the second go around.

He walked through the fairgrounds, taking in the sights of kids riding rides and venders selling ab destroying food. Normally a fair was the last place swave Jeff Winger would ever be caught dead at. But he needed something to distract him from the fact that tomorrow he began four years of community college hell. And this seemed like a better solution then his usual go to a bar and drink himself into oblivion (he'd rather not spend his first day in classroom hell with a mind crushing hangover.)

"Have your fortune told sir!"

He looked over at the speaker, seeing it was a reasonably attractive older woman in an old fashioned peasant dress and an array of colorful Mardi Gras style beads. "Excuse me?"

"You seem lost, directionless. I was just offering to help you find the path you're meant to take," she said as she gestured to the purple and red striped tent she was standing by. "Give you some information to help you see where you're life journey is taking you."

Jeff was a second from saying no thanks, when he figured he could use a laugh. And hey, maybe she could help him in getting some test scores on upcoming tests on the off chance Duncan couldn't come through for him. "All right, you're on, Miss…?"

"You may call me Madam Bradshaw. Come this way Mr…?"

"Jeff. But being a psychic, you should have known that already."

She frowned as she led him into her tent and directed him to a round wooden table with two chairs around it. "Please have a seat." They sat down at opposite sides facing each other. "It's twenty dollars for a basic reading. But if you make me laugh before we start I'll wave the fee."

Not feeling like telling any jokes Jeff dug in his pocket and put a twenty on the table. Her frown deepened as she took the money and put it the breast pocket of her dress. "Give me your hands." Jeff held out his hands as she grasped his palms and closed her eyes, concentrating deeply. "You're recently suffered a major life blow. And now must correct a past life mistake, by finishing what you ran away from long ago."

_Okay, that's mildly accurate_, he thought. "Look, let me cut to the chase Miss. I have to go back to college. Long story on why, but I'm sure you can figure out what happened. Anyway, if you can tell me some ways to get around this thing. Answers to tests, ways of charming teachers to go easy on me, that would really help me in this situation."

Madam Bradshaw ignored Jeff as she tightly gripped his hands. "You will discover much about yourself at this school. You are lost now, unwhole. Your time there will bring out the full you, make you truly great."

"Well I thought I was pretty great already, but I can always use more of that," he quipped.

"You will meet people there who will change you, and make you better then you ever realized possible. The scars you carry within you will begin to heal."

Jeff stopped smiling, feeling uncomfortable at that last part. "Hu?"

"You will find happiness and acceptance at this school, and family and friends. And it is at that school where you will meet your wife."

Jeff let out a laugh as Madam Bradshaw opened her eyes. "What?"

"You're wife. You will meet her at school."

"Look, Miss," he said as he pulled his hands away from her. "You obviously don't know me or are a real psychic, because if you were you'd know that Jeff Winger is not the marrying type. The longest relationship I've had since high school was three weeks. And that was just because the sex was too good to just have once. Believe me, me marrying someone is never going to happen."

"I know what I saw. And the fates never lie."

Jeff chuckled good humorly, figuring he might as well humor her and get a laugh out of his twenty bucks. "All right, why don't you tell me a bit about my, _wife_. So I'll know what to look for when I meet her."

"Give me your hands please." Jeff let her grasp his palms again as Madam Bradshaw closed her eyes. "She is an exceptionally beautiful woman. She's strong willed and inwardly focused, although she has a big heart and cares greatly for others. She's someone who can inspire others, but has trouble realizing just what an inspiration she really is."

"Yeah, that's great. What does she look like? Is she stacked and long legged? Is she a red head? If I have to have a wife, which I still say is impossible, she'd definitely have to be a tall red head who likes scotch."

"I can't tell you what she looks like."

"But, you just said she's hot," Jeff reminded her.

"I'm taking about her inner beauty, her aura. The light energy she carries inside of her. I can't see physical images of people, it doesn't work like that. I sense feelings and truths in the process. Though I can sense her outside shell is very pleasing to look at, it is what she carries inside that truly makes her beautiful."

"Yeah, that's the same as saying 'you should met my friend, she's really funny.'" Jeff said sarcastically. "So you can't tell me anything about what she looks like?"

Madam Bradshaw closed her eyes and concentrated very intently. "Blue."

"I'm sorry, what?"

"The color blue. I can't tell you why, but the color blue will hold great significance with this woman."

"So you're telling me I'm meant to end up with a Smurf. Great, I'll start looking for Smurfette," Jeff said as he pulled his hands away. "This was a nice distraction from everything, but I'm done. Have a nice life and maybe think about getting a day job."

"You can't run away from fate," she called out as Jeff got up and started walking out. "What I saw is meant to be."

Jeff groaned as he turned around and stared Madam Bradshaw down. "I'm going to have to ask for that twenty back, cause I'm about to tell you a joke. And that's Jeff Winger getting married. Because there's no way in a million years I'll _ever_ stand in front of people, look some woman in the eyes, and say…"

_Seven Years Later_

"I do." Jeff said with complete sincerity as he looked into Annie's perfect big blue eyes.

"And then by the power vested in me by the state of Colorado, and the internet church of humans," Abed said. "I pronounce you man and wife. You may-."

He wasn't able to finish as Jeff kissed Annie, holding onto her tightly as everyone clapped and cheered. As he pulled back, and looked at the woman he loved and couldn't wait to spend the rest of his life with, he thought, _maybe there is such a thing as fate after all. _


End file.
